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About Uptown.

Like most Chicago neighborhoods, Uptown is a great community of people who love to shop, eat, and have fun in a safe and diverse neighborhood.

Offering the exciting nightlife of the city, Uptown theaters and music venues add an artistic flavor and culture that can be especially beneficial for growing families. Homes in Uptown offer views of the lake but with vintage and historic style. High-rise condos offer new city amenities and comforts.

Uptown shops are unique and not the corporate malls many suburban communities offer. The retail stores in Uptown are usually small and owned by an individual who lives within the community.

Transportation is a major attraction to the residents of Uptown. With access to the CTA buses and ‘el’ trains, many residents do not rely on cars for transportation to work and/or school.

Uptown restaurants and dining offer a variety of unique experiences not owned by large corporations. Whether interested in Chicago-style pizza or a delicious and fresh sushi dinner in Little Vietnam neighborhood, plenty of different types of dishes are available for dine-in, carryout, or delivered to your door.

Located on the popular north side of Chicago and near shore of Lake Michigan, Uptown parks and beaches offer natural beauty and outdoor activities. Bike and running trails near the lake are a popular place for fitness enthusiasts and especially Chicago Marathon runners.

Bars and pubs in Uptown create a great and relaxing atmosphere for those stopping in with friends and family on the weeknights and over the weekends. Late night bars add a greater attraction to Uptown nightlife, and the historic jazz clubs like the Green Mill preserve local history.

People in Uptown believe in community service and working together to keep the neighborhood clean and safe and suitable for raising a family. Diversity makes Uptown a culturally unique part of the city with great schools and fun nightlife.

Location

Located on the north side of Chicago, Uptown is approximately eight miles from the Chicago Loop and a 15 minute drive. Uptown border three Chicago neighborhoods including Lakeview, Edgewater, Lincoln Square, and borders Lake Michigan to the East.

The boundaries of Uptown are very well defined compared to many Chicago neighborhoods. Foster Avenue creates the north boundary, Ravenswood and Clark street act as west boundaries, Lake Michigan creates the eastern boundary, and Irving Park Road and Montrose serve as the southern boundaries.

Information

Demographics for Zipcode 60640

Population (2000)
Total 74,030

White 52.4%
Black 19.5%
Hispanic 21.3%
Asian 13.4%
Other 14.7%

Source US Census

20,372 people per square mile

Source City-data.com

The Green Mill Jazz Club was used as a filming location for the film High Fidelity (2000) film starring John Cusack, Joan Cusack, and Jack Black. Today, the Jazz Club is part of the Weird Chicago Haunted Ghost Tours.

George Pullman, Louis Sullivan, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Marshall Fields, Potter and Bertha Palmer, and many other local celebrities, politicians, and architects are buried in Graceland Cemetery located in the Uptown neighborhood.

History

In the nineteenth century, the area now known as Uptown was not well settled. In 1861, Graceland Cemetery was opened in the southwest area of Uptown and quickly became a popular destination. Scattered throughout Uptown were farms operated by Swedish and German immigrants.

John Lewis Cochran began to develop areas of Uptown, favoring upscale mansions being built on the lakefront and multi-family housing options and more affordable homes in other areas. Cochran was able to convince city official to extend the elevated trains to the Uptown area and build train stations.

With the added accessibility to the area of Uptown, residential population saw a major increase in the early 1900’s. The business association of Uptown also encouraged other developments, such as the Riviera Theater (1919), Aragon Ballroom (1926), shopping district including the Loren Miller department store, and Edgewater Beach Hotel (1916). With the addition of such cultural attractions, luxury apartments and hotels were developed along Winthrop and Kenmore Avenues.

After the Great Depression and the Housing Crisis of World War II, Uptown residential properties had lost their glamour. Many larger properties were divided into small apartments and housed newly arrived immigrants and lower class Chicago natives. Many social services became available to the residents in the area of Uptown, and the building of Truman College in Uptown provided higher education to the area.

Today, many of Uptown’s residents pride themselves on their historic landmarks and distance themselves from its past reputation as an impoverished neighborhood.

Real Estate

Single family residences and Uptown homes for sale are beautifully fashioned in brick and Stucco style, greystone, Lake Michigan views, large wooden and wrap-around porches, Victorian Tudor, garages for convenient parking, vintage hard wood floors, mansions, small backyards and gardens.

Median value of homes in Uptown is $267,200, and the price range for single family detached residences can be anywhere from $250,000 spacious homes to $3,000,000 gorgeous and architecture gems.

Uptown Chicago condos for sale include many more affordable options than single family residences and in high-rise buildings often near Lake Michigan. Small studio condos can be priced starting around $75,000 to $550,000 for beautifully spacious condos and duplexes. Condos offer amenities such as hardwood floors, fireplaces, elevators, lakefront views, fitness centers, rooftop gardens, and many other great comforts.

Large single family homes built in the early 20th century in the Sheridan Park area and along Dover Street are being preserved as a Historic District of Chicago. The Little Vietnam neighborhood of Uptown is populated by many people of Vietnamese and Cambodian nationality. The Margate Park community has a history in the jazz-age hotels and gangsta-era apartment hotels.

Uptown apartments in Chicago can be rented for $600/month for small studio’s up to $1500/month for 2 bedroom condos. Private parking spaces can cost an extra $100/month.

Transportation

Like most Chicago neighborhoods, parking can be difficult at times when an attraction draws people from around the city and suburbs to the Uptown community. Parkinganytime.com provides a fast and an easy way of finding parking garage locations and prices.

The City of Chicago City Clerk enforces residential parking restrictions giving the residents in parts of Uptown parking preferences. Some areas of Uptown do require these permits, and for more information, visit or contact the Office of the Chicago City Clerk Parking Information.

About 41% of residents in the 60640 zipcode (includes parts of the Edgewater neighborhood) do not own a car. Many people chose public transportation over the hassles of car ownership. Uptown Walk Score rates the area as a Walker’s paradise and 97% walkable.

Chicago Transit Authority operates bus service and elevated trains (often called the ‘L’ or ‘El’). Red Line trains have stops at Sheridan Road (about 1 block south of Irving Park Road and Uptown neighborhood), Wilson Ave, Lawrence Ave, and Argyle Street. The Chicago Red Line trains are conveniently fast and 24 hours. Service is provided to the Downtown Loop, Chicago Cubs games, far north and near suburbs like Skokie and Evanston, Chicago White Sox games, and to the very far south side.

Bus Route 151 - Sheridan Road provides services to the Uptown neighborhood and to downtown Chicago Union Station, a large metropolitan Metra station that provides service to outer suburban communities.

The nearest expressways includes Lake Shore Drive, US Route 41 and the Dan Ryan Expressway is about 4.5 miles to the west.

Schools

Uptown schools offer great education opportunities for the community and growing families who move into the neighborhood. Public Schools like Uplift Community High School emphasize the importance of community service and involvement and recruits some of the brightest and most dedicated teachers in the Chicago.

City Colleges of Chicago offer great and affordable education, and Harry S. Truman College is located in the heart of the Uptown community. Truman offers a variety of transfer associate degree programs, adult continuing education classes, and a number of career certificate programs. 1145 West Wilson Avenue, Chicago, IL 60640 (773) 907-4750.

St. Augustine College is located in the Uptown area and is a private bi-lingual (dual-language) institution of higher education. St. Augustine offers a bachelors degree program in social work and numerous associate degree programs, including culinary arts, administrative assistant, child development, addiction counseling, business management, psychology, and many more. 1345 West Argyle Street, Chicago, IL 60640 (773) 878-8756.

Nightlife

Bar and nightlife in Uptown offer exciting places, daily drink specials, and big city fun and entertainment. Whether looking for a quick drink with friends after work in a relaxing atmosphere or an exciting Saturday night out with dancing, Uptown residents enjoy vibrant fun without much more than a walk or a bus ride back home.

Green Mill is one of the best known Uptown clubs and open late every night and til 5am Saturday nights. Green Mill features live jazz music every night and a week poetry slam. This historical speakeasy was once a hangout for infamous mobster Al Capone and the club even received a special visit from Frank Sinatra. 4802 N Broadway Street, Chicago, IL 60640 (773) 878-5552.

Because Uptown is north of Lakeview and Boystown, many of the Uptown bars are very gay-friendly. Big Chicks and Crew Bar are both gay bars in the Uptown area. Both places serve food and have daily drink specials and relaxing environments, but Crew prides itself on its sports bar theme.

Entertainment

Uptown shopping experiences are unique and different from most Chicago neighborhoods that are overrun with corporate chain stores. Shops in Uptown are often unique stores only found in Chicago or in the Uptown neighborhood.

With only two locations, Skinstinct Clothing Store is a great boutique for men’s and women’s apparel, and skin care products. This environmentally friendly shop boasts use of soft and organic fashions that are both comfortable and eco-friendly at a surprisingly affordable prices. 5135 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60640 (773) 506-7343.

While the Uptown neighborhood does not have any major or commercial shopping malls, access to public transportation provides an easy way to all the shopping centers and malls in the city including Belmont/Clark shops in the Lakeview neighborhood, Water Tower Place and Magnificent Mile area Shopping.

Theater and music is a big attraction to the residents of Uptown. Black Ensemble Theatre has had over 30 years of productions in the Uptown area and is the only all African-American theater group on the north side of Chicago. With programs like the Educational Outreach and Black Playwrights Initiative, the group locally promotes theater and art programs in low-income community schools and centers in the city of Chicago. 4520 North Beacon, Chicago, IL 60640 (773) 769-4451.

Similar to the Black Ensemble Theatre’s dedication to theater education, Pegasus Players Company is not-for-profit theater group whose aim is to provide theater and art education to city of Chicago residents without access to good art programs in public schools. Performances are held at the O’Rourke Center, and the group began in 1978, growing out of city college theater classes and faculty. O'Rourke Center, Truman College, 1145 West Wilson Avenue, Chicago, IL 60640 (773) 878-9761.

Beside live theater entertainment in Uptown, music venues bring live national music and comedian acts to the area. Riveria Theater and Aragon Ballroom are some of Chicago’s largest music venues and have had concerts for Billy Idol, Foo Fighters, Beck, Lily Allen, Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against the Machine, Garbage, the Pixies, and Black Crowes.

Restaurants

For the best and the freshest Uptown Sushi, Agami - Contemporary Sushi is the most recommended Sushi bar in the area. Known for having the freshest Sushi and Maki Rolls, Agami is a neighborhood favorite for special occasions and first dates. 4712 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640 (773) 506-1845.

Fontana Grill & Wine Bar features a large outdoor patio for great summer dining and Sunday/Monday Buy 1, Get 1 Free Pizza special and Tuesday 50% off wine Bottles and Glasses. The menu at Fontana includes appetizers, salads, pizza, and Italian entrees and sandwiches. Locals and regulars at the grill recommend the Grilled Polenta with Cevapi. 1329 W Wilson Ave, Chicago, IL 60640 (773) 561-0400.

Fiesta Mexicana Uptown has a full dinning room, authentic Mexican cuisine, and a large speciality Margarita menu. While the food is more expensive than most Mexican restaurants but well worth a trip in to the restaurant or ordered for take-out. A great new addition to the menu is the tasty Azteca Tortilla Soup. 4806 N Broadway Street, Chicago, IL 60640 (773) 769-4244.

Every Chicago neighborhood needs a great pizza place, and Bojono’s Pizzeria is a favorite in the Uptown community. People in Uptown love the Deep Dish Pizzas and the Thin Crust Pizzas from Bojono’s. Ordering online for delivery makes the pizzeria a convenient dinner option with pasta, sandwiches, salads, speciality pizza, and even pizza-by-the-slice. 4183 N Clarendon Ave, Chicago, IL 60613 (773) 404-9700.

One of the newest additions to dining in Uptown is Ceres’ Table. The menu at Ceres’ Table offers a variety of entrees that are unique and exquisite. The most highly recommended entree is the Wild Boar Pasta. The menu is seasonal and often changes, adding new dishes. 4882 N Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60640 (773) 878-4882.

Festivals/Parks

Parks in Uptown offer a lot of fun and recreational outdoor activities for the whole family with natural beauty not often found in large metropolitan cities.

The proximity to Lake Michigan makes Uptown a big attraction to people moving to Chicago. Located north of Montrose Harbor, Foster Avenue Beach offers concession stands, bathrooms, and include the Montrose Dog Beach. Additionally, Montrose Beach hosts events for the Chicago Sports Social Leagues.

For those with interests in boating and sailing, Montrose Harbor is located on the lake near Uptown.
Wilson Skate Park, Chase Park, Claredon Park Community Center, and Buttercup Playlot Park are some of the Uptown parks maintained by the Chicago Park District.

Chicago Neighborhood Tours offer regular informational and historic tours of Graceland Cemetery established in 1860 before the Uptown area began to become highly populated. Today Graceland Cemetery occupies almost 120 acres of land in the north side of Chicago and in the southern portion of Uptown. 4001 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60613 (773) 525-1105.

Uptown Festivals include the Windy City Ribfest first initiated in 2009. The Ribfest brings vendors from all over the midwest and features live reggae music for three days in the summer at the intersection of Lawrence and Broadway.